A Texan using a hat to keep the very hot sun or the rain off their head.
Real Texans aren’t afraid of horses and they use their hats for shading their heads rather than photo ops.
Now, if you think you can handle that, I have a story to tell you. One that you won’t hear about in the “Corporate Embedded Media” for one of three reasons:
- They don’t know about it yet
- They have their fingers in their ears singing, “La, la, la, la, la…”
- They are intentionally ignoring this story and thereby guilty of attempting to manipulate the outcome of the November election.
Thursday I did something that I haven’t done in ages, something that I thought I would never do again. It’s been a long, dry spell for me and, in the late hours of the evening, when I sit alone in the dark, I admit to myself that a vital part of human connectedness has been missing from my life.
Those of you who have known me since I quit lurking and became a registered user shortly after November 3, 2004, know that I live in a very red part of rural Texas where I struggle as a single mother to make a living. I live on a broken down farm outside a small town where “my kind’ gets called names. A gal like me can get awfully lonely in a place like this.
Filled with rage over what my country has become, I further isolated myself by declaring all Bu$h voters and supporters my mortal enemies. However, that’s all changed now.
Thursday David Van Os came to Wise County on his 254 county Whistle Stop campaign tour. Thursday was the day when I truly started to believe what David Van Os has been saying all along, “There is very little difference between Grassroots Democrats and Grassroots Republicans.” I can now offer you proof!
Democrats and Republicans are finding out that we have something crucial in common: Saving our state and saving our country!
WE DON’T WANT IT— That seemed to be the unanimous opinion of Wise County residents regarding a possible Trans Texas Corridor route through the county judging by the comments at last night’s public hearing.
LISTEN UP
Every American better help Texas stop the monstrosity called the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) that is part of the NAFTA Superhighway before Eminent Domain comes to a home near you!
The NAFTA Corridors: Offshoring U.S. Transportation Jobs to Mexico
Sparked by organized resistance and wildcat actions by workers against falling wages and deteriorating working conditions at America’s ports and on the nation’s highways, the flow of container traffic is being shifted to a south-north orientation. By leveraging both the U.S. and Mexican governments and taking advantage of the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), big capital is developing container terminals in Mexico and using that country as a land bridge and labor pool to deliver shipping containers to destinations in the United States at discount prices.
This has been diaried previously here but without much traction and, since it seems outlandish and unbelievable, well, many don’t believe it. So…if it’s not true, why did I just attend a <s>slick propaganda meeting paid for through a Texas company by the company from Spain that Gov. Perry is meeting with secretly with the intent to award them a 70 year contract for the concessions</s> hearing?
Faith Chatham is preparing an in-depth diary covering the TTC and will post that this week. She is much more knowledgeable about that issue than I am.
This is one of the several issues uniting Republicans and Democrats in Texas.
After The Wise County TTC hearing last Tuesday, Wise County Republicans practically ran over themselves trying to get Hank Gilbert’s contact information and to ask him how they can help him get elected. Hank, who is the Democratic candidate for Ag. Commissioner, spoke against the TTC at the hearing.
Prior to the hearing, a popular, <u>Republican blog</u> in Lake Bridgeport posted this message:
The Trans-Texas Corridor: The Defining Issue in the Upcoming State Races
“Hank Gilbert, Democratic Candidate for Secretary of Agriculture, will be present at the Trans-Texas Corridor hearing at Decatur tonight starting at 5:00 with discussion to begin at 6:30. Speaking with Hank on the phone yesterday, he believes the Trans-Texas Corridor will be the defining issue in the upcoming state races. He plans on attending ALL of the 50 plus hearings scheduled.
Please make every effort to be at the hearing. We need a big showing to Fight Back against the biggest land grab in the history of the State.
Please forward this email to all your friends and neighbors. Go online to http://www.wisedems.com/ for more information.
Come, meet and hear Hank Gilbert speak. This is his campaign issue.”
Hank Gilbert’s opponent, Todd Staples cosponsored the TTC in the senate. The Trans Texas Corridor is paved with campaign contributions to Gov. Rick Perry and enabled by Attorney General Greg Abbott.
To stop the NAFTA Superhighway we must stop the Trans Texas Corridor. To stop the Trans Texas Corridor we must get the Texas statewide candidates elected. Republicans and Democrats are coming together on this issue!
The next day, the same <u>Republican blog</u> posted this message about David Van Os:
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Meet Our Next Attorney GeneralPlease join David Van Os at breakfast Thursday morning, July 13, at 8:00 am at the Courthouse Cafe before he makes his “Whistle Stop” speech on the courthouse steps.
Here’s an excerpt from David’s weekly campaign letter.“Give ’em hell” Harry Truman is one of my American political heroes. The pundits said there was no way he could win. But he was determined to carry on his fight against the corporate special interests despite the naysayers and to beat all the odds in order to do it. So he took his case directly to the people by Whistlestop tour, and the people responded,
and handed him a stunning upset victory.The pundits and naysayers, including some in my own party*, say there is no way I can win. But I’m determined like my hero Harry Truman was, so I decided to take my case for fighting the corporate robber barons and the power grabbers directly to the people. . .”
* David is running on the Democratic ticket.
Read David’s “NO to Slick Rick’s Tolling Plans” on his home page at
http://dvo4txag.blogspot.com/2006/01/no-to-slick-ricks-tolling-plans.html
Go back and read that title again. “Meet Our Next Attorney General.”
David Van Os made his Wise County Whistle Stop at 9:00 AM on Thursday July 13th. After meeting the Wise Dems and some Wise Republicans at the Courthouse Café for breakfast, we walked across the street to the beautiful courthouse. We Texans–young and old, Republicans and Democrats alike— gathered together to listen to the message of hope we desperately needed to hear.
I wish I had a recording of David’s speech to share with you. (Must plan better next time.) His message was received with abundant enthusiasm from everyone there. Some of the Republicans even handed him checks.
When David and Rachel left, headed for their next whistle stop at Montague County, several of us–Democrats and Republicans–wandered back across the street to the Courthouse Café for some iced tea and conversation. Something happened then that I thought would never happen again.
We very gently started to talk about politics. People were tentative at first but, as we discovered that we agreed on just about everything, the conversation became more animated. The Republican voters, and they weren’t moderates but staunch Republicans, said that Bu$h had fooled them. They are as disgusted as we are!
We must reach out to these Republicans, our fellow Americans! Rather than meeting them with haughtiness, we must make it easy for them to join us in our fight to get our country back. This is what David told us in his convention speech. He is right again!
This movement is not unique to Wise County. The grassroots Republicans and Democrats have momentum going. Texas is having a movement! However, the “Corporate Embedded Media” is not reporting this movement. David can’t even get one mention in any big paper–even with the erection of the Notice to Big Oil billboards.
The smaller papers in the Counties where he makes his Whistle Stop Give him excellent press.
AG Candidate Makes Local Visit
A candidate for Texas Attorney General says Texas is not enforcing the laws on open government and open records. Democrat David Van Os is making a whistle stop campaign of all Texas` 254 counties in his bid to defeat Republican Greg Abbott. He made a stop at the Clay County courthouse today. Os says there are too many loopholes in the laws that allow public boards and commissions to keep vital information from the public. Os said he also would take big oil companies to court for high prices because he says they are violating antitrust laws and are in effect operating as monopolies.
State Attorney General Candidate Visits Brenham
[snip]
Van Os says he strongly believes that – effectively with the assistance from Republican politicians now in office – many oil companies, insurance companies and banks/financial institutions have become “robber-barons” whose thievery it is the sworn duty of the Texas attorney general to stop.
For instance, Van Os said during a 15-minute talk, “Average people are told they don’t qualify for a car loan (or other purchase) because of their credit score” yet aren’t clued in as to “who’s keeping score.”Van Os’ emphasized, “Competition is virtually non-existent among the oil companies” – making it virtually impossible for low-income people to afford to drive even 10-miles round-trip to work.
[snip]
Admittedly a low-budget candidate – running a campaign about a $1 budget for each $10,000 available to Abbott – the optimistic Van Os said, “But I’m taking my campaign right to the people of Texas – and his 10,000-to-1 (dollar) advantage may not be enough.”Dem AG candidate Van Os makes campaign stop here
Van Os is looking to unseat incumbent Attorney General Republican Greg Abbott, who was elected to the office in 2002. Speaking before an audience of Democratic supporters at the Fort Bend County courthouse in Richmond, the self-styled “people’s” lawyer criticized Abbott for not using the office to break up what he calls oil monopolies and for not enforcing what he sees as collusion in the insurance business.
“That one company is making staggering amounts of profit and you’re still being told you have to pay higher and higher and higher prices,” he said of Exxon-Mobil.Van Os said the merger of oil companies like Exxon and Mobil and Chevron and Texaco have contributed to high gas prices and the reduction of jobs in the Gulf Coast area. However, the issue can be tackled from the Attorney General’s Office, he said.
“The Attorney General of Texas is a constitutional officer, and he has the tools by virtue of the Texas Constitution and the laws of the state of Texas to literally do something about it,” he said.
He said Texas law stating “monopolies are contrary to the genius of free government and shall never be allowed.” Antitrust laws, he said, can be used to break up the oil companies.
Abbott, said Van Os, has acted as a “corporate mouthpiece,” hosting fundraising dinners at $5,000 a plate and accepting money from a “who’s-who” of Texas corporations.
[snip]
Abbott’s campaign manager, Daniel Hodge, said he does not have any comment on Van Os or his statements.“Attorney General Abbott is running for reelection so he can continue arresting child sex predators, protecting consumers, preserving taxpayer dollars and defending Texas values,” he said.
The best of all is my paper, the Republican owned Wise County Messenger. They published an excellent article on David’s Whistle Stop and included a big picture. (The article is not yet online so I can’t link.) It seems the smaller town papers know something that the big city papers don’t!
I’m angry at the arrogance of our media! This is a HUGE story that should be reported in every paper! This is news! We need the wider coverage in order to draw campaign contributions from a larger base. How do we get that coverage?
Thank you to our bloggosphere friends’ for your generous donations. After I posted the Big Oil Served Notice diary, we were able to pay the $1,600 that was due Saturday to keep the Dallas billboard up another month. We need to raise enough to keep it up until November 7.
Some pictures and video from other Whistle Stops follows:
Somervell County Whistle Stop pictures
Video of David’s speech in Somervell County brought to you by CanOFun
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Thank you to Alice for taking the pictures at the Wise County Whistle Stop.
Also available at
My Left Wing
Texas Kaos
Booman Tribune
